What we know about the attack attributed to Hezbollah by Israel

The latest report states that 12 people, aged 10 to 16, were killed and around 30 injured after a deadly strike on the Israeli town of Majdal Shams. The Lebanese terrorist group denies being behind it.

This is the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians since October 7, 2023. On Saturday, July 27, at the end of the day, Israeli police, army and rescue workers reported rocket fire from Lebanon on the annexed Golan Heights in northern Israel. One of these rocket attacks, which killed 12 young people, came after the deaths of four fighters from the Lebanese terrorist movement Hezbollah, supported by Iran. The day after the strikes on the Golan Heights, Franceinfo summarizes what we know about the increasingly tense situation on the border between Israel and Lebanon.

At least 12 dead and 30 injured after deadly shooting

The latest report from Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari puts the death toll at 12, aged between 10 and 16, killed by a single rocket strike.About 30 injured people were still hospitalized in Israel on Sunday morning.The strike hit a soccer field in the town of Majdal Shams, located on the Golan Heights in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. The attack on civilians in Israel is the deadliest since the October 7 offensive.

“We arrived at a football field and saw destruction and objects on fire. Wounded people were lying on the grass.”described rescuer Idan Avshalom in a statement from Magen David Adom, the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross. According to Israeli police and the army, rockets hit several other sites in the Golan, much of which was occupied by Israel in 1967 and later annexed.

Israel accuses Hezbollah, which denies it

The attack was quickly blamed on Hezbollah, a Lebanese terrorist group backed by Iran. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the rocket fired “was an Iranian rocket”. However, according to him, Hezbollah is “the only terrorist organization that has it in its arsenal”Israeli President Isaac Herzog also accused Hezbollah. “Hezbollah terrorists violently attacked and killed children today, whose only crime was going out to play football. They did not return”did he declare.

Since October 7, this movement, allied with Hamas, has been exchanging cross-border fire with the Israeli army almost daily. The bloody rocket attack on the soccer field in the Golan came after a Lebanese security source announced that four Hezbollah fighters had been killed by an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon.

For its part, Hezbollah said it had launched rockets on Saturday towards military positions in the Golan, but denied being the author of the one that hit the football stadium. In a statement, the pro-Iranian movement said “categorically deny the allegations reported by some enemy media and various media platforms regarding the targeting of Majdal Shams”And “confirm that the Islamic Resistance has no connection with the facts”.

Israeli army ‘preparing’ for response

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Lebanese Islamist movement had “crossed all the red lines” pulling “deliberately on civilians”. “This is not an army fighting another army, but a terrorist organization deliberately shooting at civilians.”added the minister.

Hours after the attack, the Israeli military said “prepare to respond” to Lebanese Hezbollah. “We will complete our assessments and we will take action”the army said. On the evening of the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured that Hezbollah would pay “the high price” of this rocket attack.

On a diplomatic visit to the United States, the Prime Minister decided to return to Israel, “as quickly as possible” and announced that he would attend a meeting of his security cabinet upon his return.

International community concerned, Iran threatens

Lebanon was the first to react. In a statement, the government said: “condemn all attacks against civilians” and has “called for an immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts”after more than nine months of exchange of fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli army.

Josep Borrell, the head of European Union diplomacy, condemned “the bloodbath” in a tweet on X. He asks for the opening “of an independent international investigation”and urges both parties to “exercise the greatest restraint” to avoid “a new escalation”The White House reiterated its “unwavering support” to the Israeli government. France has also condemned “attack with the greatest firmness”And “will continue to act” to avoid a resurgence of conflicts.

For its part, Iran, an ally of Hezbollah, has warned Israel against “unpredictable consequences” news “adventures” military in Lebanon. “Any action (…) by the Zionist regime may lead to the worsening of instability, insecurity and war in the region,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said, adding that Israel would be responsible for the “unpredictable consequences and reactions to such stupid behavior”.